Santorini targeted by fake volcano eruption videos

Some of the videos have been AI-generated, while others have been miscaptioned.

Transcript

00:00Santorini has been targeted by fake volcano eruption videos.

00:09The Greek island of Santorini has fallen victim to a series of false viral videos which allegedly

00:14show the popular holiday destination engulfed in lava.

00:18The videos have mostly been published on TikTok and have amassed thousands of views, shares

00:23and likes.

00:24They have also received thousands of comments.

00:26And while many rightly question the video's authenticity, many appear to believe what

00:31they pretend to depict.

00:33This one for example shows lava streaming down the cliffside into the sea, while volcanoes

00:38explode across the mountain.

00:40This one shows crowds fleeing in terror as fires rage against the backdrop of Santorini's

00:45iconic white buildings and blue roofs.

00:48And this one portrays smoke billowing from an island, captioned as Santorini, as if an

00:53eruption had just occurred there.

00:55However, various clues show that the first two of these videos were AI generated.

01:00In the first one, the sea looks artificial and doesn't behave as you might expect water

01:05to react to lava and crashing against the rocks.

01:08The colours are saturated and at times a boat sail blends into the buildings, while another

01:13boat seemingly covered in lava sails past.

01:16In the second video, the people running away are distorted.

01:20They dissolve, blend into each other and have blurred faces.

01:23The third video isn't AI generated, but doesn't depict Santorini at all.

01:28Not only are the blue roof buildings missing, but the geography of the island is completely

01:33different.

01:34A reverse image search shows us that the video actually depicts Wakari, or White Island,

01:39in New Zealand.

01:40Additionally, claims have circulated that Turkey is behind the videos to try and damage

01:45Santorini's tourism industry, but there's zero evidence that this is the case.

01:50The Turkish Ministry of Culture and Tourism hasn't responded to our requests for comment

01:54as of the time of recording.